Does anyone home school their children?

kafkathecat

Hi, I home educate my 13 yr old ds. I would join EO and try to find out about local groups or families. You may find some local families get together to study which can be useful at this age. You would be very unlucky if there wasn't a social group near you. We use correspondence courses for some subjects and I also know families who have used internet schools. There are many ways to educate children outside of school depending on interests and budgets and I know several children who have gone on to work or university. Don't forget the social side though. I am happy to answer any questions you might have. BW.

kafkathecat

TheEffect wrote: »

Without writing a detailed statement of why you shouldn't, I'll give my few simple points.

1) School is not only teaching your son the subjects he needs to know, it's teaching him how to socialise, deal with every day problems and how to fit into society. If you home-school your child, he may suffer with these skills.

2) It's going to be hard for your son, and possibly for you, to keep a more formal attitude towards home-schooling. What happens when your son doesn't want to do some work?

3) What happens if you're ill for a few weeks? Who will 'cover' you? Your son loses out on important work.

1. Life isn't like school though and home ed children get to socialise in the real world unless their parents keep them in the house, which is rare.

2. After a period of settling in the family can work out a system which works for them. If there are things the son doesn't want to do maybe they aren't necessary. If they are he just needs to be convinced.

3. At 13, once you have got used to it, your son should be able to work on his own to some degree and be self motivated. The odd day when nothing is done is not the end of the world. We work through 'school holidays' to some degree so things tend to even out.

Lunar_Eclipse

TheEffect wrote: »

Without writing a detailed statement of why you shouldn't, I'll give my few simple points.

1) School is not only teaching your son the subjects he needs to know, it's teaching him how to socialise, deal with every day problems and how to fit into society. If you home-school your child, he may suffer with these skills.

2) It's going to be hard for your son, and possibly for you, to keep a more formal attitude towards home-schooling. What happens when your son doesn't want to do some work?

3) What happens if you're ill for a few weeks? Who will 'cover' you? Your son loses out on important work.

I have to guess that you don't homeschool. I'm also curious as to how many families you know that do. I say this because 'social skills' are usually raised by people with no personal experience of home schooling.

I don't homeschool my children, however all the studies I have read about it (& I've read a few since I'm interested in the broader subject of education) clearly conclude that in general, home schooled children have far superior socialisation skills compared to children educated at school. There is also evidence that suggests social skills honed by years spent at school are not useful to most adults (in the workplace or family life.)

To the OP: Ultimately, there are many ways of gaining an education and only you and your son know what might work best for him. Education Otherwise is a great website I think you'd find useful.

Why do we so readily accept that the best way to learn is in classes of approximately 30 children, primarily grouped by age, to a curriculum that is decided upon by our government, that at least half the nation don't agree with in principle (on the basis of political beliefs?) Frankly, I don't understand how schools survive.:D

lucyvdb7

TheEffect wrote: »

Without writing a detailed statement of why you shouldn't, I'll give my few simple points.

1) School is not only teaching your son the subjects he needs to know, it's teaching him how to socialise, deal with every day problems and how to fit into society. If you home-school your child, he may suffer with these skills.

2) It's going to be hard for your son, and possibly for you, to keep a more formal attitude towards home-schooling. What happens when your son doesn't want to do some work?

3) What happens if you're ill for a few weeks? Who will 'cover' you? Your son loses out on important work.

These issues are among the common problems cited by those who critised the fact that I was home educated. I have never been to school, not even for a day, and I don't feel I've been limited in my 'social skills'; and, judging by my fairly normal friends, society doesn't deem me abnormal. I successfully acquired O' levels, which I sat as an external candidate, and did a few American equivalent to A' levels before training and qualifying as a midwife. From the socialisation point of view, I've come across people unable to socialise and it's certainly not determined by the setting of their formal education.

On the second point - flexibility is something possible in a homeschool setting, and can be used to good or ill. I'm not sure that, if I felt I couldn't be bothered one day, any amount of teachers would be able to force me any more than my mum did. At least if I wasn't getting a point we could easily swap subjects, and come back to it later one with a clear head. What happens when a child doesn't want to do some work at school, I wonder?!

On the third point, my mum was out of action a few times when she had a new baby, but the joy of home-education is that if necessary you can have 6 weeks off at some time other than standard school holidays, and work through the summer instead. Or we sometimes caught up by doing an extra hour every day until we were where we should be. You also have to bear in mind that the actual time spent learning in school is minimal - I don't have the figure to hand, but it's been quoted here somewhere - something like 2 hrs a day. So if you home-educated seriously, then you've got plenty of time to be sick for months on end. A lot of our work we didn't do with my mum anyway, it was more 'self-directed' and she was our reference if we got stuck etc, so if she was ill for a couple of days it made hardly any difference.

Hope that helps to allay these worries.

Do look at the home-ed websites recommended, they're a great resource.

bethanyg_2

I was taught at home my whole life, and finished college this year with three A-Levels, the lowest grade being a high B.
Having said that though, I absolutely hated being taught at home.
Have you asked your son what he wants?

addictedtosoreen

Firstly, thank you all for your help, advice, and support
Secondly, with regard to what my son thinks ( i will get shot down for this, but here goes) He has not dismissed the idea but is a bit hesitant about it and i do value his views and opinions HOWEVER, as his parent i feel i need to do whats i feel is best for him. The school he attends at the moment is awful, at best, negligent at worst. He only has just over 2 years left and i dont want it wasted as education is so very important

nickyhutch

Have you considered a different school?

bestpud

Whereabouts in the UK are you?

There is many options for taking GCSEs but the available options vary by area. It can also get expensive if he wants to take as many as he would in school.

Many home-ed children are accepted at 6th form/FE colleges without GCSEs in the subjects they want to study, so it's not necessarily a barrier if he only achieves the bare minimum. Personally, I think Maths, English and Science are essential.

It is amazing how efficient one-to-one tuition is though; you really don't need to follow school hours.

It is important to ensure he has the opportunity to socialise, but school isn't the model to follow! There is nothing natural about the so-called socialisation that takes place in schools!

My dd is far more confident and articulate since I started home-edding her. There is a lot to be said for them interacting with adults who respect and listen to them!

I am a little concerned that your son isn't overly keen though... Would you force him to leave school if he said he really doesn't want to?

Is he co-operative when it comes to school/home work?

vintagebrighton

There's nothing to say a home educated child has to follow the national curriculum so I wouldn't worry too much about following subjects as such. The joy of home education is that 'subjects' are learnt more holistically, there's more context. For example, if we went to an art gallery we'd talk about the exhibits in the context of history or about the artist and society at the time or even practicalities like sciences or DT. All sorts could spark an interest leading to further investigation. It was fun that way and let's face it, the way subjects are taught in schools is very much geared to passing exams/tests rather than to actually spark an interest.

I HE'd my son from the age of 12 - he lasted less than 6 months in the only secondary school available to him - I removed him as I had no choice. It was hard and no one supported my decision so I know what a hard decision it is to make! I've never regretted it but if I'm honest there are time's my son did. Mainly because of the exams........ they're very costly to take as an external student and you get no financial help at all. As a result, he only took 3 which means he has to be 3 years at college instead of 2. He's never expressed any other regret though and even the extra year at college he's got over now!

I would say though it's very important for your son to be involved in the decision to leave mainstream education. You won't get him to learn anything if he's against the idea. It is ok to try it though, you can go back to mainstream school if you change your minds or a better school finds a place for him. Good luck x

kafkathecat

Hi OP if your son is unsure I would definitely find out what is happening locally as he may be imagining being at home with you all day. Try to find out if there are other children his age nearby. Even if it means a bit of travelling it really helps to meet with other families. The only children I have known who preferred school were the ones who didn't socialise enough. BW.